The Arc Method
by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh
Summary: After a bet with Weiss, Jaune has to find a girlfriend, and soon. Ruby and Yang offer their help, and Jaune is more than happy to accept. Will he find a girlfriend by the end of the week, or will he lose Weiss forever? Eheh... Somehow, he doesn't care.


**_Heya everyone! I just had this idea and I wanted to post it. Finally something pretty light-hearted from an otherwise pretty dark author, don't you think? Next chapter of ViewingTES is on its way, as is An Extension of the Soul's first one and A Darker Shade of Gold's second one. Also A Rose Too Many. I'm trying to write them but have mercy, it might take time._**

 ** _EDIT: some people noted how a certain sentence (when describing Yang's dress before the club scene) was off-putting. They were right. I was asked by my brother to add it because he found it funny, and since he's helped me with many ideas, I had decided to oblige. But now I changed it because a good story is more important than my brother asking me to add something like that. It wasn't even all that funny, just something that really happened to him. Sorry if it bothered you._**

 ** _And here is your story!_**

"Weiss! Wait!"

The heiress turned with a huff as the same annoying blond Jaune Arc of every day rushed up to her. "What do you want, Arc?" she asked quite frostily. In her defence, his flirting and courting had been extremely annoying, supremely embarrassing and constant ever since the first day. She had managed to answer politely even if a tad coldly for the first week. After that, she had begun treating him worse to try and make him understand just how laughable the idea of the two of them together was, but he never stopped. So she felt excused if she didn't react exactly warmly at his arrival. "I'm kind of in a hurry to get to class."

"I…"

"You want to ask me out again, don't you?" She sighed. "The answer is still no, Arc."

"But Weiss…"

"What makes you think I should say yes? What makes you think I will _ever_ say yes?" she asked frostily. "I told you before, and I'll tell you again. The answer is no."

"Come on, at least hear me out!" protested the boy.

"Last time I did you embarrassed me before the whole class," she reminded him.

"That was one time!"

"Yes, because I didn't let you do it again." Weiss sighed again and rubbed her forehead. Around them, the students hurried along, trying to get away from the ticking time bomb that was Weiss Schnee when courted by Jaune Arc. "And even if I had, it wouldn't have changed anything. You're _not_ boyfriend material."

Jaune felt a jab at his pride. It was true, the `Arc charm` hadn't worked any miracle since he had come to Beacon. And even back in Orlén, his hometown, he had always been the lonely boy who preferred to stay alone instead of with the others. That was mainly because of his untraditional thoughts and his always being the odd one out, but it didn't change the fact that Jaune was even less experienced than his youngest sisters, who were twelve, when it came to romantic relationships.

Yet again, he couldn't just let Weiss say something like that. That would show lack of backbone and his father _did_ say that women liked men with confidence. So he steadied himself and attempted to glare back at Weiss. It failed, but she was marginally impressed by the fact he had at least tried. Not enough to change her answer, but maybe enough to hear him out for one more sentence. "So you don't even want to give me a shot because you think no one would?" he inquired, his mind working overdrive to come up with a decent follow-up. "Just for that?"

"Not just for that," Weiss replied flatly. "But that is one of the reasons, yes. I don't see why I, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, should go out with you, who can't even get a date from another girl."

Jaune's mind finally dinged and offered him something else to say, but he hesitated. That had the potential of shutting Weiss up and saving his pride, but it also had the potential to end in complete disaster. Weiss's raised eyebrow was what gave him the necessary courage, or foolishness, to continue. "What if I proved you I can get a girlfriend in a week?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest to try and stop his pounding heart.

Weiss blinked, and for a second, Jaune thought his plan might have worked. Then she laughed. "Arc, I must tell Yang this. She'll be very jealous you can joke better than she does."

"It's not a joke!" he protested. "I'm telling the truth!"

Weiss stopped laughing and looked at him with a glare. "It'll be a cold day in Hell the day you will get a girlfriend, Arc," she said.

"Wanna bet?" he offered, his voice slightly cracking.

Weiss's eyebrow continued to raise, but she seemed pensive. "Yes," she finally said. "If you get a girlfriend in a week, I promise that, in case you two break up, I will take up your offer and go on a date with you. But if you don't, you will _never_ ask me out again."

Jaune lit up. "Really?" he asked. It was more a matter of pride than actual courting, but he felt lighter nonetheless.

"As much as I don't like it, I did promise," she replied before turning and walking away. Left behind, Jaune smiled… before he remembered what the promise exactly was.

"How am I going to find a girlfriend in just seven day?!"

He began pacing back and forth in the corridor, uncaring of the stares he was getting from the others. "Okay, Jaune, think. How can I find a girlfriend in just seven days, in a school literally full of boys who are ten times better than me? No, the real question is not this. _Can_ I find a girlfriend in just seven days, in a school literally full of better candidates?"

He stopped and growled under his breath. "No, I can't. No chance at all." He sighed and leaned against the wall. "I don't think pity will make me find someone…"

He froze.

"Of course!" he whisper-yelled. "She doesn't have to be _real…_ "

/-/

"What?"

Taken off-guard by the question, Yang lost her grip on the weights she had been lifting. Thankfully for her health Blake, who was spotting her, caught them before they could crush the brawler. Not like she would've taken anything more than damage to her Aura, but she was glad at the Faunus for having grabbed the weights. She turned to Jaune with a shocked expression on her face. "I'm sorry, I obviously heard you wrong. What did you say?"

"Ehm…" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Do you know anyone who would accept to pretend to be my girlfriend for a few days?"

"Okay, we heard him right," stated Ruby, stopping her own running exercise and joining the other two of her team. "Why, though?"

He chuckled nervously. "I might have made a bet with Weiss…" he admitted, shrinking a bit when Yang began to laugh.

"Oh, so that's what she meant by `I finally got rid of that pest` this morning," she guffawed loudly. Jaune frowned.

"Got rid of that pest?" he repeated. "Jeez, I know I've been insistent but you'd think she'd at least give me the benefit of doubt…"

"You know how Weiss is," Blake replied flatly. "But why did you come to Yang?"

"Well, Yang's pretty much the most popular girl I know of, so I thought that if there's someone who can help me find an accomplice, it'd be her," shrugged the boy. "She was my best choice. Without any offence Blake, you pretty much never talk to anyone outside our two teams. And Ruby's as socially awkward as I am."

"You got a point for these two, but why didn't you go to your team for help?" Yang asked, sitting up on the bench.

"Well, Nora is out for obvious reasons. As loyal as she is she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret even if she tried. Plus she and Ren alike don't really know much people," Jaune explained with a sigh. "As for Pyrrha, as hard as it might be to believe, she doesn't really talk much with other people outside our group of eight. I thought of asking Coco for help, but she would immediately think I was trying to hit on Velvet or something, and she'd send me back to my dorm by the window."

"While I'm pretty sure Coco wouldn't do that, you do have quite a few points," agreed Yang, rubbing her chin. "It's pretty strange how I'm the only one to actually be able to talk with other people without being looked at strangely, and without embarrassing myself."

"Thanks," deadpanned both Ruby and Jaune.

"You're both welcome. But there is a little problem." Yang sighed and leaned back on the bench. "I am popular, and I know many other girls here, but they're all popular as well. For example, I don't really talk much with Velvet, but I do with Coco. So the problem would be…"

"It would be that being seen with someone like me would utterly ruin their reputation," nodded Jaune. "I understand. Unfortunately, that just deepens my problem…"

Yang winced. "Well…" She lit up. "I'll do it!"

Blake and Ruby looked at her in shock, but Jaune shook his head. "Yang…"

"Don't read too much into it, but you're a friend. Frankly, a friend is more important than a stupid reputation I got by kicking ass and being hot. A reputation is something I can build up again whenever I want." She clapped her hands as if she had just solved the problem. "I was going to say one of us, but I thought that volunteering myself would solve the problem faster. Besides, while you're not my type, you're not like Cardin. It'll be nice to spend some time with you while secretly flipping off Ice Queen."

Jaune shook his head again, even if his cheeks did gain a pink tint. "I already thought about it, and it's not gonna work. Weiss would immediately know it was a farce." He sighed defeatedly. "Blake is the same story, and I don't want Ruby to have to fake her first relationship. I'm sure Pyrrha would accept, but she's famous. As sad as it sounds she can't allow her image to be ruined by being seen dating someone like me, someone unknown and unimportant."

"And I guess Nora is ruled out for obvious reasons. Plus Velvet could actually have a crush on you so you don't want to break her heart by faking a relationship just for a bet…" Yang looked around for help, but both the other girls seemed extremely interested in the ceiling all of a sudden. "Well, I still think one of us would still be the best choice."

Jaune sighed and laid down on a nearby bench. _'Might've as well work out while we speak,'_ he thought. "The problem is still that Weiss would notice."

"Only if you `get together` immediately," Blake pointed out. "How much time did she give you?"

"A week," he replied hollowly. "And before you laugh yes, I know it's a ridiculously short time."

"I was actually going to say that she went easy on you," noted Yang. "Why should it be short?"

"Girls, I may have been asking Weiss out for weeks but I'm not someone who believes in love at first sight. I was asking her out to get to her better. One of you, mind spotting me? Thanks." He began lifting up the weights, scowling at them as if they were they cause of his problems. Ruby moved behind him so she could grab the weights in case she needed to. "You don't find out everything on a girl in a week, and she doesn't find out everything on you in a week. And if you know nothing about each other, how can you call that love? Might be a crush, might be attraction, but not love. Love is built on knowledge, not just feeling, even if it might start as just a crush."

"Hey, it's not like you have to get married," noted Yang.

"That's not the point." He sighed. "In a week, it would be nigh-impossible to really build up something like love. So pretending we did would be nigh-unbelievable. Who would believe me if I said Yang and I got together after just a week of the so-called `dating`? No one, that's for sure."

"You have an interesting view of love," noted Blake. "But one that's not shared by the ninety percent of the population of Remnant. You can meet a girl one day and two days later bed her, and to the eyes of people it won't be anything strange."

Jaune made a disgusted noise. "Figures, the world's the same no matter where you go," he snorted angrily, taking the girls aback. "I thought it was just a bunch of idiots in my village, not the majority of Remnant."

"Your village?" inquired Ruby.

"Not really the time, Rubes," if his voice was a little strained by the weights he was lifting or by his apparent irritation, it wasn't clear. "So you're telling me Weiss would believe us if we told her Yang and I got together after a week of hanging out?"

"I think it would be a little unbelievable, but she would admit defeat when faced with `proof` like a kiss or something like that," replied Blake.

Jaune gave another snort of dislike. "Well, if you're really so sure, then let's at least make it realistic. How does tomorrow, five o'clock, Vale's Park of Flowers, sound?" he gritted out under the strain. "But, excuse me, I would feel a lot more comfortable if you all could be there."

"Why's that?" asked Ruby. "I mean, if I were you, I'd be more embarrassed being with other people than being alone."

"It would be my first date ever," he sighed, making them all raise eyebrows. "Actually, the first friendly date too. So I'd like to have all you three there. Besides, listening to Yang's puns for the entire afternoon might not be worth the bet."

"Smartass," snorted Yang, jabbing him slightly in the ribs. Unfortunately, doing to broke his focus and also his grip.

 _Crash._

"Whooops… is he still alive?"

/-/

"Making a girl wait," snorted Yang. "Not cool."

"You insisted we arrived twenty minutes earlier just so you could start saying that every five minutes, didn't you?" snarked Blake. "Yang, it's four fifty-three. Being early is not a requirement."

The three of them had been waiting for ten minutes now, even if it had been Yang's insistence that had dragged them down so early. Weiss had been shocked into silence when she heard that _all_ her teammates were on a date, even if just a friendly date, with Jaune Arc of all people. No one had missed how she paled, likely thinking that the bet was going badly for her.

All three of them had decided, for once, to ditch their Huntress gear and dress normally. Ruby was wearing black tights and black shirt paired with an open jacket and a skirt as red as her namesake, even if she kept her cape. Blake chose black pants as well, but she only had a white long-sleeved shirt instead of shirt and jacket. Yang had brown pants paired with a yellow shirt that exposed her midriff and a brown jacket over it. All three of them kept their usual footwear, and of course Blake had her usual ribbon slash bow.

"It's not my fault I didn't want to make him wait," scoffed Yang. "I mean, for some obscure reason this is his first date, even friendly date, and I wanted to at least make it good for him."

"Starting to care?" teased Blake.

Yang stuck out her tongue before sighing and turning sober. "We all care about him, and we all know it," she replied. "It's just… despite his lack of combat skill, Jaune's a great guy. As I said, not my type, but he's not _bad_. So I wonder why he never had a girlfriend before."

"Why should it matter?" asked Blake as the three of them took their seats on the bench where they were supposed to wait for him. "It wouldn't be unheard of for a guy of our age to have never had a girlfriend."

"You're not considering Jaune's personality," she replied. "Describe him."

"Well, he's really nice and caring, he proved that when he offered me a hand to get up after I blew up Weiss in the courtyard," began Ruby. "Plus he's really kind and brave, especially back during initiation."

"Exactly," nodded Yang. "He might not be the perfect boyfriend but hey, if all girls really searched for the perfect boyfriend, humanity would've gone extinct long ago. Plus he _is_ kinda insisted with Weiss, so it's not like he _doesn't_ want a girlfriend. So… why didn't he find one before?"

The three stayed silent for a few more minutes, just looking at the traffic and the people in the park. A father with his three children was trying to convince one of them to play with the others. It was an honestly heartwarming scene, especially when the little girl refused and the man sat down to play with her himself, so that she wouldn't be alone.

"If I have to be honest, I'm kinda happy he allowed me to come as well," suddenly said Blake. "In Beacon I've never seen him excel in anything. Heck, he struggles to even do _something_ right. So I'm curious to see him in a different environment."

"What do you mean?" asked Ruby, a little peeved that Blake had called her friend talentless.

"Can you mention _one_ thing he's good at?" asked the Faunus.

"He's a good strategist?" offered Yang. "I mean, he got the position of leader for his strategy skills."

" _Besides_ that," specified Blake.

"What are you trying to say, Blake?" asked Ruby, a bit exasperated.

"He can't fight. He isn't the best in History and dozes off in Grimm Studies… even if I can honestly understand that," she summed up. "I've yet to see something he _excels_ in. We are all near-perfect students, both academically and in the arena." She frowned. "I mean, it's so easy to look down on Jaune when you literally have trained for this all your life. Maybe he focused on other stuff as well."

"And this might be the perfect occasion to find out that stuff," completed Yang, nodding. "Yeah, I get it. Beacon's not _his_ environment, it's the environment of people like me, like us. We gotta see him in his environment before we can judge him. It's like comparing a car to a boat: they are completely different, you must have different criteria."

"Yang, your examples suck," sighed Ruby. "But… you're not wrong. No one is talentless. We just need to let Jaune show us what he's good at doing."

The three of them glanced at a passing-by coach that was likely bringing tourists from Atlas or Mistral around. The bench they were sitting on was very close to the entrance of the park, so that they wouldn't miss each other.

"I have nothing against Weiss," Yang stated suddenly. "But I feel like she would've argued how Jaune has no positive qualities and is good for nothing."

"Weiss has her own flaws," sighed Blake. "One of which is prejudice, and another stubbornness. She has her own idea of Jaune and she won't change her mind even if she sees how wrong she was."

"You're not still holding a grudge for her being a Schnee, are you?" asked Yang.

"No, Yang, I'm not. I was just stating the obvious." Blake stared at the traffic for a second. "Honestly, for a while, I acted like her when Pyrrha convinced Jaune to tell us about his transcripts. Weiss was of course furious… do you remember how many long talks we had to have with her to stop her from telling Goodwitch?" She snorted. "She accepted me being a former terrorist, and yet she would've probably ratted Jaune out for using forgery to make his dream come true. But I wasn't much better, even if just for a day or so. I thought so little of him for having forged his way in, and then I realized just how hypocrite I was being. I joined the Fang to improve Faunus rights. He joined Beacon to be a hero for the people. Our goals weren't very different, after all."

"But why were you angry at him at first, then?" asked Ruby.

Blake sighed. "It's a long story. After leaving the safe haven of my home, life in the Fang was hard at times. Sure, we had our outposts and tents and bases, but sometimes we'd need to camp in the wild, and I've seen many of my fellow Faunus die at the claws of the Grimm because of ill-planned improvised camps." She absent-mindedly fiddled with her ribbon. "And sometimes I know I can act holier-than-thou with people who I think have suffered or gone through less than I have. Sometimes I think that I know the world better than they do and this makes me better than them. I'm being hypocrite, I know, but it's hard not to after you've literally fought for your denied rights, and you see someone who claims to want to be a hero, and then doesn't have any of the power I had. It's hypocrite, I know, he entered Beacon _because_ he needed that power, not because he already had it."

"Well, the everyone here is a hypocrite, Blake," sighed Yang. "I mean, look at us. Beacon accepts only the best of the best in combat… but why in _combat?_ Cardin's not a monster, mind me, but he's surely not someone I would entrust with the protection of the defenceless. He's arrogant and a bully. So why does Beacon only accept because of combat prowess? I mean, when we were on the airship, do you remember what Goodwitch said?"

"`You are among the few privileged ones who have been chosen to attend this prestigious Academy`, if I'm not wrong," recalled Ruby. "`You have demonstrated you have the courage needed for such a task. Now it is our job to provide you with the training and the knowledge to complete it`."

Blake's eyes widened. "She never mentioned needing combat prowess to attend Beacon," she noted. "She just mentioned courage. And yet Cardin and his team are a bunch of cowards, while someone like Jaune had to forge his way in. Heck, even trying something like that at his age speaks of courage!"

"Or an over-the-top amount of stupidity," commented a fourth voice, making them all jump. Since when had Jaune Arc of all people been able to sneak not just on Ruby and Yang, but _Blake?_ A Faunus and a trained ninja? It was true they had been focused on the discussion, but still.

"That's not true, I would've never been able to gather enough courage to do that," countered Yang. "Do you even know how many things could've gone wrong?"

"I think I got white hair when Beacon actually replied my application letter," he deadpanned as he sat down. He too had exchanged his normal clothes for something else. A simple pair of black jeans, low black boots, a plain black shirt and a white light jacket over it. Despite the monochrome theme of the outfit, it fit him actually better than his usual clothes. "Heya girls. I don't know if you've noticed or not, given your reaction earlier I'd wager on the latter, but I've been standing there for a while now."

"We were just a bit distracted," apologized Ruby. "Hey. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Rubes, everything's fine," he nodded. "For me, at least. Pyrrha not so much."

"What happened?" asked Blake.

"Dunno, when I told her I was on my way because I had a date she just kind of fainted," he shrugged helplessly. "No idea why though. How'bout you?"

"Well, we were talking about you, Jauney," smirked Yang.

Jaune blushed slightly and coughed once to get rid of the redness on his cheeks. "Well, sorry for making for a boring topic," he tried to joke lightly.

"Nah, it was pretty interesting," replied the girl. "So, Lover Boy, got something or somewhere in mind already?"

Jaune smiled and looked around. "Well, I bet this isn't the first time you come here, so I guess we'll just have a walk around and talk a little."

"What about?" promptly asked Blake.

"I know I asked for this date, but do I have to decide everything?" He rolled his eyes when they nodded at him. "Fine… Well, since we're in the Park of Flowers, what's your favourite flower or plant?"

The four of them stood up and began walking down the gravel path. True to its name, the park housed many types of plants even in the late Autumn. The colourful ones were beside the dull ones, but none of them was any less beautiful. Despite it being just November, there were very few people around.

"I think my answer is pretty obvious," Ruby chuckled awkwardly. "My mother's symbol was a rose too, so I'm kinda biased."

"Eh, it's no problem, Ruby." Jaune shrugged and smiled at her. "Besides, the rose is the favourite plant of many. It's isn't the flower of love for nothing."

"I think sunflower," replied Yang. "I know it's not the most beautiful flower but it always looks at the Sun. We could almost say it's very optimistic because it always looks to the _bright_ side!" She winked at them while they sighed at the joke. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"I think I'm biased for the daffodils," laughed the boy. "It's not a very noticeable flower but my mother always told me to look at flowers for what they mean, not for what they look like."

"And what do daffodils mean?" asked Blake.

"Chivalry, joy and happiness… new beginnings…" He sighed. "Unrequited love…"

"Come on, it's just Weiss," said Yang, bumping her shoulder into his.

"Ruby and I chose flowers as symbols so I guess my own answer is pretty much clear, isn't it?" Blake shrugged. "I like tulips. I chose the black tulip because it went well with my hair and colour theme."

"Well, it does fit you," smiled Yang.

The Vale Park of Flowers was famous not just because of its many types of flora, but also for its particular shape. Seen from high above, the park looked like a giant multicoloured rose, the lines drawing it being the gravel paths just like the one they were walking on. The park also had areas without flowers to play on, and large trees to relax under. The four of them continued to walk as they made some idle talk. The weather was pretty fine, even if it was a bit windy. After an hour or so, though, Jaune spoke up with a different idea.

"Hey, does any of you like videogames?" he asked as he stopped by one of the exits. The others stopped with him and fixed him with three different looks of confusion.

"Well, yeah," nodded Yang. "I mean, I'm biased for the Treeken series but I'm fine with other fighting games."

"I played some quiz games," recalled Blake. "Plus Yang introduced me to fighting games."

"Same for the fights, but I also like RPGs," added Ruby.

Jaune shook his head. "Girls, you are missing out. Have you ever heard of Remnant Reborn?"

"I've heard of it from my friends," nodded Yang. "It's pretty famous, isn't it?"

"Very," nodded Ruby. "Last time I checked it ranked among the top five games of its category. It's also semi-constantly updated. Should be at version 42 at the moment…"

"Forty-two point three," amended Jaune. "So you've heard of it. Never played?" All he got was three shaking heads. "Then you've never fully lived your life. Come with me, I have a friend of mine who lives here who has the latest version. Even Ozpin has it: he bought it three years ago when it was still a crappy game."

"Three years ago it already was among the top ten," recalled Ruby.

"Yeah, but it was crappy if compared to what it is now," smiled the boy. "Come on, my friend doesn't live too far from here."

/-/

"Jaune?"

"Hey Alex, how're you?" Jaune stepped into the house while the three girls behind him remained standing awkwardly at the door. "Alex, meet my friends Ruby, Yang and Blake. Girls, meet my friend Alex."

Alex was an extremely tall woman, a full head taller than Jaune himself, who was maybe in her middle thirties, with short brown hair and jade green eyes. She dressed casually enough, with jeans and a shirt with `Computer Science is my Girlfriend` written on the front. "Heya girls. What's up Jaune?"

"We were walking in the park, and then they said they've never played Remnant Reborn." At her gasp, he nodded. "I know, it's blasphemy. That's why I brought them here. You were the nearest."

Alex shook her head, appearing honestly distressed. "I can't believe this…"

"Hey, come on, it's just a game!" exclaimed Yang, who was starting to get worried they had just been dragged in a cult or something.

"I take offence in that!" shot back Alex. It was strange how they had just met and already they were acting like arguing friends. "Especially since Jaune and I are part of the indie group that created it!"

The three girls were taken aback while Jaune sighed. "Aaand you ruined the surprise," he sighed before turning to the girls. "I didn't really do much of coding, we had our experts, but I coordinated them, gave them the ideas and the jobs to do…"

"It's a long story," summed up Blake.

"And while you listen to it, why don't you get comfortable?" Alex let them in and urged them to sit on a large couch in the living room. She and Jaune took two chairs instead, and Alex brought a tray of snacks and juice. "For starters, Jaune was the one who actually came up with the idea. He had been in our group for a few months at that time and he recruited basically the entirety of the group for this new game he had thought of."

"At first, I'll admit it, it wasn't even all that good," Jaune laughed sheepishly before turning serious. "It was just another RPG videogame. But the more we tested it, the more we realized it wasn't coming out as we wanted it to be."

"We had too many programmers and too few experts," sighed Alex. "None of us really knew how we should've had the virtual Huntsmen fight or how we should've had the virtual governments run the Kingdoms. And so Jaune asked us to contact our friends and we built up a net of experts who knew nothing of programming, but could tell us how the world worked."

"For example, Alex here has a degree in Psychology and one in Philosophy, plus she does some programming during her free time," explained Jaune. "We contacted a few Huntsman, and even Ozpin himself to have him explain how he runs the Academy. Ours was a fairly large group so we managed to reach more or less every field, and then we started back up again."

"Thankfully we copied most of our code from already existing RPG games some of our senior members had made earlier in life. And the result was Remnant Reborn, the first version." Alex sighed wistfully. "We then changed lots of stuff and modified lots of stuff, but it has always been good. Especially the financial incomes!"

The three girls sat in silence, taking in the information. "So Jaune here basically _created_ one of the world's most famous videogames without even being able to code?" asked Yang.

"Someone has to organize and think of the ideas," replied Alex. "But he did code. He programmed Beacon Academy from Version 6 to Version 28 basically all on his own. And we never changed Beacon after Version 28."

"That good?" asked Blake.

"Nah, it simply made sense," shrugged Jaune. "But let's cut to the chase. Wanna try it?"

The boy gestured to a brand-new screen with several joysticks lined up before it. The game was already showing the main menu, as it had been doing since they had come in, that showed Beacon on fire with four silhouettes outlined by the flames. Seeing their shocked expressions, Alex chuckled.

"That's a spin-off," she told them. "Remnant Aflame. It has much more action than the basic Remnant Reborn."

"Why did you call it `Reborn`, by the way?" asked Ruby.

"Because it's a virtual Remnant, a second one, so it's Remnant born again in the virtual world," explained Jaune.

"How many of this spin-offs there are?" asked Yang, smirking.

"Oh, well, there's Remnant Aflame, that is the action-packed one, Remnant Reborn: Love in the Air, where we went crazy to make every single character you meet romanceable, even the villains." He chuckled at their expressions. "Then we have Remnant Doomed, that has action but it's mainly plot and character decisions, and we have Drowned Remnant, an apocalypse-following spin-off where most of Remnant is underwater and Beacon is one of the few places where there's still human life. Alex, help?"

"Then we have the ones for the bad guys," she grinned. "Remnant: Reborn as Chaos has been heavily critiqued because it allows you to be the most despicable monster you want to be. Then we have Remnant Overrun, where you command the creatures of Grimm, and Remnants of Wastelands, where you need to cause a worldwide war and destroy everything."

"That's a lot of big spin-offs," commented Blake.

"Then there's the Remnant: Love in the Air additions: Closer to You, that allows you to also have sex with the romanced characters, and Impregnation, that is a stupid title for a stupid porn game." She shrugged at everyone's disgusted faces. "They sold almost as much as everything else summed up."

"So, wanna play?" asked Jaune. "If you don't want to play Remnant Aflame, we can still play Remnant Reborn. My favourite ones are Love in the Air, without the additions, and the base Remnant Reborn. Alex here has everything."

"I'm fine with Remnant Aflame," shrugged Ruby.

"I'd like to try it," nodded Yang.

"And it seems I'm outnumbered, so let's play Aflame," sighed Blake.

/-/

"Oh my Oum it was so cool!"

The four of them had returned to their respective dorms several hours earlier, and Ruby still hadn't stopped going on and on about how cool the Remnant Reborn series had been. Yang and Blake had enjoyed it as well, but surely not as much as the smaller girl had.

"Calm down, sis, it was just a game," Yang told her.

"Calm down? That was awesome!" exclaimed Ruby. "Never mind the action, that was superb, but did you see how he handled Beacon?"

"You mean the initiation?" asked Blake.

"I mean that!" nodded Ruby. "It wasn't like ours, it was an actual initiation!"

"Why would something out of that dolt's mind be better than Ozpin's actual methods?" asked Weiss, irritated.

"In the game you spent the whole first year moving from a team to the other until you found the one best for you," explained Yang. "So that you would always be with people you work well with."

"Of course, we ended up on the same team," added Blake. "But it was fun."

"You call seeing half of Remnant burn _fun?_ "

"She didn't mean it like that!" pouted Ruby. "It's just that we would've never thought that Jaune of all people would've been the creator of one of the most successful games of Remnant."

"He wasn't the creator, he was _part of the group_ that created it," corrected Weiss.

"Yeah, but it really makes you think just how much we don't know about him," said Yang, turning over on her bed. The day had been fun and she actually felt satisfied by it, something she couldn't say of every other day of her life. "We never really thought about it, but _what_ did Jaune do before coming to Beacon? We trained, and him?"

"I'm still appalled the dolt hasn't been expelled yet for his lack of training," mumbled Weiss.

"Not helping," retorted Ruby. "But I guess we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"

"Are you going out with him _again?_ " asked Weiss, incredulous.

"Yep," confirmed Yang, popping the `p`. "We go to the beach tomorrow."

"He's just trying to get you to wear swimsuits," Weiss stated, scowling.

"He's not," retorted Blake. "Actually, he told us _not_ to bring swimsuits."

"What?" snorted Weiss. "He thinks you're gonna go naked?"

"He said to wear long pants and sleeves, plus boots or at least not heels," continued Yang. "Not sure why, though."

"Hmph", scoffed the heiress. "We'll see."

"Yes, we will," Yang glared at her. "Because frankly, Jaune is a really nice guy I don't mind spending time with. And I think you should stop being stubborn and try to see him for who he is."

"He asks me out twice a day," Weiss deadpanned at her.

"He has his flaws," shrugged Blake before snuffing out the only candle in the room, plunging everyone in darkness. "Goodnight."

/-/

"So, what now?"

The four of them were staring up at the seaside cliffs Jaune had brought them to. They were around fifty yards high, grey and brown from erosion and earth. The surface of the vertical wall was rough and uneven, allowing for decent handholds and footholds. They were all standing on a large rock, the water swashing around it and from time to time spraying the rocks with a shower of droplets.

The four had changed outfits from the day before, but now that they were facing the actual cliff, three of them were regretting not asking for details over the necessary clothes.

Yang was dressed in black pants with a brown T-shirt and a long-sleeved yellow jacket. Her hair was as free as ever, and she was slowly regretting not tying it. At least she had her boots, even if she didn't have any type of resistant gloves, just the fingerless ones she usually wore.

Blake had come dressed exactly like the day before, but foregoing heels for light black boots, and she was really regretting choosing a white shirt. Luckily the sprays of water weren't reaching it, or they would've made it perfectly see-through, and she hadn't planned on flashing anyone that day.

Ruby had chosen to go with low black boots, even if she too hadn't taken gloves with her. She had dark red pants paired with a low-cut red shirt, and over it a black jacket that should've showed her stomach, but instead showed the shirt underneath.

The three girls were glaring at Jaune, who was wearing navy blue pants paired with a plain black shirt. He wore boots and thick leather gloves instead of his usual fingerless ones. He also had a blue light scarf covering his mouth and nose from any debris or dust he could dislodge while climbing.

"You ready?" he asked, ignoring their glares.

"You _could've_ told us we were going climbing," accused Yang.

"Hey, I told you to bring long clothes while also telling you we'd go to the beach. What do you think we were going to do?" he replied. "Cosplaying?"

"Shouldn't we start with an… _easier_ climb?" offered Ruby, looking up to the vertical wall before them.

Jaune scratched the back of his head. "Actually this _is_ an easy climb. My first free climb was twice as high as this one, and I didn't even have Aura."

"Were you insane?" gasped Yang, looking at the menacing rocks. "One little slip and you would've died!"

"Says the Huntress who fights Grimm for fun," he snorted. "The kettle is really calling the pot black at this point."

He clapped his hands and ran forwards before any of them could stop him, jumping over the water and landing on another, smaller rock. The three watched in apprehension as he jumped from a rock to the other, his movements precise and calculated, until he reached the base of the cliffs. He looked back just long enough to wave them over. The only one who managed to move as precisely as Jaune did was Blake, who was by far the most acrobatic of the three girls. Yang and Ruby didn't _stumble_ nor _trip_ , but they had to stop at almost every rock and look around before moving to the next.

When they arrived, they had to look up to see the top of the cliffs, and they didn't like how difficult the climb seemed to be. Sure, there were handholds and footholds, and even if they fell their Aura would absorb the damage to their bodies… but not the damage to their pride.

"Ladies first," he said stepping aside as if to let them pass.

"Gentleman," snorted Yang, staring at the rocks and trying to find a good place where to start. Without Ember Celica to propel herself, her climbing skills were far lousier than she'd like. Her impressive bust didn't help, either, instead hindering her movements.

"I am the most experienced one. Usually, I would've asked a friend of mine to accompany us so he could go first and show you the way, and I could remain last to catch you if you fall, but he was busy," he explained. "I know you have Aura but falling from here would be a nasty affair."

Yang gained just a light tint of pink on her cheeks as she looked away. "S-Sorry… I guess you are the expert," she laughed sheepishly, grabbing hold of a rock and hoisting herself up.

"Use your feet," he lectured from under her. "Having four holds on the rock instead of two always helps. And always test a hold's resistance before you pull yourself up."

Yang nodded and continued to climb carefully. As slow as it was, though, it was nice. The wind would increase the higher she climbed, but even then she found herself enjoying the strain the climb was putting on her muscles. Huntsmen and Huntresses were trained for bursts of incredible powers on very short periods of time, not for endurance. Even Yang, who was among the most resistant fighters of the first years, was starting to have some difficulty. That, paired with the fact not all the holds she chose were safe, paired with her not-so-useful breast size, paired with her own inexperience, was making her advance far slower than the others.

Blake and Ruby, both smaller, lighter and more agile than the brawler, had practically _skipped_ ahead, reaching the top of the cliffs even when she was still halfway up. Jaune was still climbing after her, careful to stay lined up with her so he could catch her if she fell. A stronger wind had begun to howl, a wind coming from the ocean. It wasn't a storm nor a hurricane, but it was strong enough to force Blake and Ruby to crouch against it to avoid stepping back. Yang was hit less by it, but she also wasn't already at the top of the cliffs.

That, and her long hair really wasn't helping, hindering her movements and being blown onto her face. She kept having to push it back and away from her eyes, but the wind was far more constant than she was. Darker clouds had appeared at the horizon, and she really didn't want to think it would rain any minute now. Getting wet, pardon the innuendo, wasn't on her wish list for today.

Scowling and tossing her head to shake her hair out of her eyes, she reached out for a handhold and pulled herself up, thinking of how many yards she still had to cover before she reached the summit. What she didn't think of, though, was testing the hold like Jaune had told her. So, when she tried to pull herself up, she was surprised as the stone gave away from under her hand.

The tricky thing about free climbing for the first time was that she hadn't chosen the _best_ holds, so when she lost her balance, her foot slipped as well and she quickly found herself hanging on with just a hand, her hair blown onto her face and with her teammates shouting in worry.

Jaune, below her, stopped climbing, just looking at her with apprehension. She had a few good holds close at hand, but her inexperience and the weather weren't helping. He saw her reaching for a hold, but it was not a good one, just another stone like the one she had tried to use earlier. "Yang, not that one!" he shouted over the wind. "Two feet to your left, just above your shoulder! Use that one!"

But it was too late. She didn't hear him in time, or not at all. She grabbed the stone and gave a startled cry when that too tumbled out of the wall and into the sea.

Unfortunately, so did she.

With her hands, she tried to grab a rock or even just the wall itself, not caring about the damage it was doing to her Aura, but the cold of the wind and the strain of the climb had made her fingers stiff, and she merely failed to hold onto anything, plummeting toward either Death in her worst case scenario, or at the very least a broken bone and some serious bruises. The agitated sea wouldn't help, either.

She never touched the water.

Something, or rather someone, snatched her from mid-air, pressing her against the wall of the cliffs. Far above, Ruby and Blake sighed in relief. Yang found herself staring in Jaune's blue eyes, narrowed in determination and apparent expertise. She blushed slightly when she realized she was sandwiched between the wall and her friend, her breasts pressed firmly against his chest and her legs on his right. Despite all her attitude, that was the closest she'd ever been with a boy… and that was pretty understandable. There was barely any space between them, even if Jaune didn't seem to notice.

He grabbed one of her hands and forced it down his shirt's neck cut to feel their temperature, since his own were covered by his gloves, his blue eyes widening in shock even as her own widened in embarrassment.

"Yang, your hands are _freezing!_ " he exclaimed, grabbing the other one as well and then unceremoniously forcing them up his shirt from its lower hem to heat up against his warm skin. Temporarily ignoring, or more probably just not noticing, her now very noticeable blush, he brought his hands back and grabbed her flowing hair before starting to carefully stuff it down the back of her own shirt to keep it from whipping around for the wind. "Okay, note to myself. Next time, I explain you all how to climb _before_ allowing you on Vale's cliffs. Oum, what I was _thinking?_ You especially, with your hair, would've be hindered in case the wind picked up. I'm so sorry, Yang, I almost got you hurt because I was stupid." He sighed and rested his forehead against the cold stone of the cliffs. "I'm sorry I failed you."

Pressing his forehead to the stone had required him to press himself against something else as well, namely Yang's body, and thus all he got in response was an embarrassed squeak.

Realizing that a squeak _wasn't_ something Yang would've replied to such a statement, he leaned back every so slightly to look at what the problem was. He took the whole situation in all at once.

Yang, her face red and looking to the side, her lilac eyes desperately trying to avoid his own. Her impressive cleavage was firmly pressed against his chest, the relatively thin material of both his shirt and her own making it incredibly easy to _feel_ her hardened nipples pressed against him. Her hands, still under his shirt, whose fingers had splayed out on his stomach. His own hands, still tucking strands of her hair into the back of her shirt to avoid it from whipping her face again. Her very noticeable blush. Her just as noticeably exposed bust, firm and soft at the same time against his chest. Her wide lilac eyes, looking somewhere over his right shoulder.

Only his climber's instincts prevented him from shrieking in embarrassment and jumping backwards into the sea. "Oh Dust I'm so so so sorry!" he apologized hurriedly, trying to give her as much space as he could that, given their position, was still near nothing. His face was red enough to work as lighthouse for the ships, and he awkwardly tried to move without making any of them fall off the cliffs.

Yang, her shame temporarily forgotten, could only laugh loudly at the blond's own embarrassment.

/-/

Three days had passed from the accident at the cliffs. Three days filled with tons of homework, tons of classes and overall very little free time. Jaune had managed to `ask` the three of them out again for a quick day at the arcade, where they found out they were awful at basically any game that didn't involve fighting, but aside from that RBY had spent very little time with Jaune.

That was going to change that day, though.

Ruby and Yang had agreed to go out with Jaune once again, this time hitting a pub in Vale. Blake had politely refused, saying that pubs were one of the places she least wanted to visit in Vale. In truth, she was also afraid that the loud music typical of pubs would just give her a headache. That, and she feared of what a drunk Yang could do.

Jaune himself had reassured her that he would've looked out for the two of them. He knew he wasn't exactly a drinker but Aura helped. Plus _no one_ could get drunk with just one low-alcohol drink, and a Strawberry Sunrise was obviously not a very alcoholic drink.

Yang had been slightly against the idea of allowing Ruby to come with them, but then she had remembered that, first of all, that wasn't a real date, no matter what Ruby or Blake said and teased about, respectively. And secondly, Jaune seemed to really enjoying spending time with Ruby as well as Yang, so it wouldn't have been fair to him either, denying him the right to spend an evening with both his friends.

She had been tempted to offer Pyrrha to come as well, but she feared that a drunk Pyrrha would've tried to keep Jaune all for herself. The normally very acceptive redhead hadn't probably had a true alcoholic drink in her whole life, given how harmful for health it was, so she was probably a lightweight. And a normally very nice girl like her could easily turn into a terrifying Yandere under the influence of alcohol. That was why Yang had convinced Blake not to tell Pyrrha where they were going.

And she wasn't against Pyrrha coming with them because she wanted to keep Jaune for herself instead.

Nope. She was against it because Jaune didn't need a Yandere-drunk girl to keep him busy with her tits. Nope. He wanted and _needed_ to spend time with his friends. He had confided them that he really liked their previous `dates`, especially because they made him feel so special, since he had never gone to dates or friend gatherings before. That was still weird, in Yang's opinion, but she would that slip for the time being. So he would continue to enjoy their _friendly_ dates… Pyrrha could've gotten _too_ friendly if drunk.

Or maybe that was just Yang being paranoid.

She didn't really know.

As she approached JNPR's dorm, Ruby by her side, she realized she didn't care, either. Maybe she was being paranoid. But that wasn't important. What was important was something else. What was important, and so damn entertaining, and somewhat pleasing, and also extremely gratifying was the priceless look on Jaune's face when he saw them as he opened the door just enough to peek outside.

She knew she was hot, and beautiful, and she had plenty to show off to the boys (and girls, she wasn't close-minded). But seeing the confirmation of that statement printed all over Jaune's face was so much better. Sure, he was also staring at Ruby, who looked quite good herself, but he was also staring at Yang.

She was wearing what she would normally call a pretty conservative outfit, but that was the point. She didn't want to impress Jaune by flashing him with her tits or something like that. She wasn't a bimbo. Her body was nice and all, sure, but she was not just a pair of boobs, an ass and a pussy. Nope. Jaune wasn't the _only_ guy who treated her normally despite her smoking hot body, but he still was one of the _few_ who did. So she hadn't chosen her clothes to try and lure him with her body. She had chosen her clothes so that he would be forced to admit she looked good even when she wasn't showing off anything.

Minding Jaune's dislike for heels, something he had mentioned at the arcade, she had opted to go all out with a badass outfit while also keeping in mind her usual colour theme. From the feet up, she was wearing brown boots with a high sole, like her usual ones, but with a stiffer type of leather. Tucked into the boots there were long brown pants of the leather type. She wore a yellow shirt with a brown leather jacket halfway zipped up, her symbol burned in yellow where the breast pocket should have been. She also wore her usual fingerless black gloves and she was currently so damn pleased to have gotten Jaune to stare. Having grown up with seven admittedly beautiful sisters, the boy had kinda grown used to pretty girls, so getting him to stare was an achievement of its own.

Ruby, beside her, was no less. Even while Weiss had absolutely commented the lack of elegance of both their outfits, Ruby too had followed Yang's choice, but using her own colour theme.

She was wearing for once without her cape, that had been carefully folded and left on her bed, with Blake having been tasked to prevent it from being harmed. She wore short black boots with dark crimson pants tucked in them. She also wore a crimson low-cut shirt with an open black jacket. As opposite to Yang, she wasn't wearing any gloves, instead hooking the thumbs of her pale hands into her jacket's pockets and leaning on her right foot, tilting her hips to the right while her upper body moved to the left.

Needless to say, their combined beauty was what left Jaune speechless.

"Are you gonna close that mouth of yours, Jauney, or do I have to close it myself?" Yang teased, her fingers already moving towards his face when he snapped out of his trance.

"O-Oh, s-sorry, I was just…" His breath hitched and he laughed nervously. "N-Nevermind. You two look…"

"Hot?" offered Yang.

"Nice?" added Ruby, the light blush on her cheeks going really well with her red theme.

"…otherworldly, splendiferously, stunningly, ravishingly gorgeous," he breathed as they lost him again. Yang sighed but then something caught her eye.

Jaune wasn't looking at their clothes.

Mind her, he _did_ give them a once-over every little while, but he was mostly focused on their faces. Apparently Ruby had noticed as well, because she was becoming increasingly red. Yang decided that, as nice as it was to be appreciated, they should try to get going with their date. So she pushed the door open to try and shake Jaune out of his reverie.

In all honesty, it did wake him up.

It also gave both sisters a good view of Jaune's naked upper body since he had just been wearing black boxers at the time, and that was the reason he hadn't completely opened up the door when Ruby had knocked.

Both sisters had to admit that he was definitely toned, especially for someone without Huntsman training. Yet again, he was a semi-professional free climber and he'd thoroughly shown his physical strength during their time in Beacon, starting by blocking a pincer attack from the Deathstalker without even having learned how to infuse his Aura into his body to enhance it. So they weren't really surprised by his athletic built. They were definitely more surprised by the multitude of small and large scars that littered his whole front, his arms, his hands -usually covered by his gloves- and his legs.

They weren't _worried_ per se. It was mainly just strange. They couldn't be sure but most of those scars didn't seem like from any injury by a fight. Grimm or humans, usually fighting left a certain type of scars on people. Just like they didn't appear to be from, for example, cooking.

Before they could ask, though, Jaune shrieked and slammed the door shut on their faces. They could hear his frantic breathing on the other side and Yang decided to change topic from his previous daydream, both to avoid him to linger on what had probably been a truly embarrassing moment and to sate her own curiosity.

"Hey Jaune?" she called out loudly. "Mind telling me why your body is littered with scars?"

It took him a few minutes of heavy breathing to reply, but reply he did. "T-They are n-not from fighting," came his answer from behind the door. "Just… well, I had my Aura unlocked during initiation, so all the falls I experienced while free climbing left their marks."

Yang sighed in relief. Sure, the sight of Jaune's scars had initially worried her, but now that she knew of the origins of his scars, she felt her breathing even out. "That's good," she nodded. "For I second I was worried you had some sort of horribly dark past and it would've really been a mood killer for the night. How long until you have some clothes on and we can go?"

"J-Just ten m-more minutes, o-okay?"

Ten minutes later, true to his words, Jaune was ready. The two of them heard him sigh from the other side of the door before he managed to gather the courage to open it and face the two girls he had called, even if while daydreaming ( _about them_ , his mind treacherously supplied), _otherworldly splendiferously stunningly ravishingly gorgeous_. It was obvious he was more than a little nervous, and for a good reason, too. Nevertheless, he forced himself to open the door.

Yang could've sworn that, had she been a boy, she'd have pitched a tent right then and there.

Jaune was now wearing mostly white, but somehow he still managed to match their badass theme. He had high white boots with silver pants tucked in, messily on purpose. Where he managed to buy the rest of the clothes, they had no idea. He wore a light-bluish silver shirt tucked into his pants, and a pristine white belt with a golden buckle even if it wasn't necessary. Over the shirt he wore a long Gothic tailcoat white jacket with golden accents, the sleeves widening at the wrists to so hang low like the vest of a noble. His symbol was drawn on the front and the back, as they saw then he pirouetted to show them his outfit like his sisters used to do when shopping with him. But there was something else as well: his Aura was flaring, making him glow and enhancing the paleness of his outfit. His pale complexion looked even paler, matching the white, and Yang knew it wasn't makeup. His eyes instead stood out a lot more, two sparkling lakes of clear water in which both Yang and Ruby found losing themselves. Idly, they noticed a passed-out Pyrrha in JNPR's dorm, as well as a shocked-into-silence Nora and a stunned Ren.

"S-Should we go?" he asked, his voice cracking a bit as he looked at them once more.

That woke them up from their own trance pretty quickly.

/-/

Blake had been right in not coming.

The pub wasn't bad, quite the opposite, but the sensitive cat Faunus would've probably gotten a headache just by _looking_ at it. She was a kitty like that.

Jaune, Ruby and Yang, instead, were definitely having fun in the chaotic local.

"So, Lady Killer," teased Yang, a Strawberry Sunrise in hand. "I've been asking myself something ever since you came to me for that bet of yours. Mind if I ask?"

"Yeah, I have something I want to ask you too," nodded Ruby, a Choctail -the name being a mix of chocolate and cocktail- in her hands. The drink was more or less as alcoholic as a Strawberry Sunrise, but it tasted of warm cocoa instead of strawberry.

"One at a time, girls," he smiled back, his own hands holding a Lemon Twist. Just like the other two, it wasn't very alcoholic, and just like the other two he had taken it more because of the lemon taste than the alcohol. "Yang, you asked first, you go first. What do you want to know?"

"Well, there's this thing that's been bugging me since this whole ordeal started." She paused a second as she sipped her drink. Given the _extremely_ low quantity of alcohol the three of them had ingested, they were still as sober as they had been when they had walked in half an hour earlier. "From what I've gathered you never really had many friends. Care to explain?"

"Yeah, that was my question too!" nodded Ruby. "I mean, you're very kind and nice and… _friendly!_ So why didn't you have friends before?"

Jaune sighed and took a long sip from his drink before setting it down. "I guess I _did_ let a bit too much slip," he noted dryly. The sisters exchanged a glance at his sudden change in attitude. "You asked so I will tell you, but if you don't want to be friends with me afterwards, you can just go. You don't have to feel like you _have_ to go through this date."

Yang and Ruby exchanged another glance, this time more worried. "Jaune, we are your friends," said Ruby, placing a hand over his. "We're not gonna abandon you."

He looked at them for a few more seconds before sighing again. "I guess it all started when I asked out one of my classmates back in Orléns, when I was ten," he began. "There's not much to say, but I guess that was what caused everyone to start looking at me strangely."

"Why would they?" asked Yang. "I mean, asking a girl out is nothing strange…"

"Asking a girl out, no." He grimaced. "But I didn't ask a girl out. I asked a _boy_ out."

Silence fell on the table.

"But it's not just that," he continued. "After everyone found out I was bisexual, they began insulting me and so I began closing myself in my room more and more every day. I began to read and code and go alone to do some free climbing. That was also the period when I joined Alex's indie group and the period when we came up with Remnant Reborn's first idea. I became the loner of the village and more or less the whipping boy. I was verbally attacked whenever I went into town. Just because I am bisexual doesn't mean I want to fuck every single person I see, for Oum's sake, but they thought differently. Parents insulted me and kept their children away from me. The other kids went as far as sometimes throwing stones and pebbles at me. And that was just the start of it."

The silence continued, but now it was more because of the seething rage that had filled both Yang's and Ruby's eyes. Sure, they had been surprised, but to treat him differently, to treat him like _that_ , because he was bisexual? That was not just crossing a line. That was crossing the line _beyond_ that line.

He took an angry sip from his drink. "Fortunately, my family was extremely open-minded. Sure, they commented on the boy I liked at the time and on how he turned out to be a homophobic bastard, but they were otherwise very accepting. We would joke about it and such, but it was well-meant. I'm still not sure whether I was lucky they were to accepting, or not." His eyes narrowed and Yang and Ruby could see the clear anger and sadness in them. "With their open-mindedness, I started to care less about the world, but the world didn't stop treating me like shit. I began reading more and more, but eventually that damned me as well." He made to drink again, only to find his glass empty, and gestured the bartender to give him another. "At first, I was bisexual because I thought that I didn't care about someone's body, but about their soul and character. Flesh was not important. `My body will rot, but my soul will just shine brighter` and all that stuff."

"Then I began reading about people losing their loved ones and finding love once again. And I began wondering and wondering: so they didn't love them before just because they had someone else to love? That isn't right. It means that they _could've_ loved their `second loves` but they hadn't because they already loved someone. Why should you stop love like that?" Again, he drained half the glass in one go. Yang and Ruby had absent-mindedly continued to sip their own as well. "So, after a long musing, I confronted my opinions and I found out I wasn't just the freak bisex of the village, I also supported the dreaded polyamour."

He snorted and finally decided to ask for something stronger. Quite a bit stronger. The bartender didn't bat an eye at the request and merely served him with some Vacuan whiskey, a bit toned down sure, but whiskey nonetheless. "As you can easily guess, when the townfolks got wind of that they went crazy. When the kids weren't throwing stones, they were having a much more _direct_ approach." Jaune scowled at his glass. "And to think, a few of them might've even been repressed bisex or homos. But their parents forced into their skulls that it was _wrong_ to be anything other than hetero, and so they became aggressive." He finished his first shot of whiskey and turned to the still silent girls. Both, though, had looks that could've killed those villagers even from Vale. "That's my story. From your faces, I guess you first want to pummel me, and then leave for good. Go on, I'm not gonna stop you. Not like I could, anyway." His voice turned pained at the end, and he refilled his shot glass.

The first thing he felt was a powerful impact on his midriff and chest. He looked down, expecting to see Yang having smashed a chair into him, but instead he just found Ruby hugging him tightly. A hand laid on his shoulder and then Yang joined the hug, pressing the smaller girl even further into his stomach and chest, further enough that he was starting to have trouble breathing.

Fortunately, the two broke the hug soon enough, even if they did stay by his side.

"We don't give a shit," Yang said fiercely. "Loving someone without caring about his body is noble, not despicable. And never stopping to search for love isn't despicable, either."

Jaune looked at them for a few more seconds before he sighed and smiled. "Thanks girls," he said as he hugged them back. "This really means a lot."

"But, I do have a question," she continued. "You said you supported polyamour, and yet you seemed pretty hellbent on asking the Ice Queen out, and _only_ her."

Jaune stared at her for a few seconds before coughing into his fist and looking away. "Let's just say that I was actually trying to flirt with two girls, and both of them didn't really get the message even if I was trying so hard…" he laughed nervously. "I thought about it and I came to the decision that while I supported polyamour, _I_ didn't want more than two people. So that's the number I was asking out… one in a far subtler way than the other…"

"And who was the lucky other?" Yang teased with a smirk.

Jaune paled and coughed again, this time a little more desperately. His eyes, though, were traitorously trying to give him away. And Yang noticed when they finally won over his will and he glanced first at Ruby, and then at Yang herself.

 _'Well, I'm screwed,'_ he thought as realization spread across both of the girls' faces.

To his surprise, though, none of them chastised him about it. Ruby opted for blushing of a shade of crimson that was darker than her theme colour, and Yang had some serious blush covering her cheeks, even if she tried to pass it off as the alcohol – alcohol she _hadn't_ drunk.

"I… Ehm…" the usually talkative brawler looked around before finally settling her gaze on Jaune's much more alcoholic drink and quickly stole it from him, downing it all in a single gulp. She coughed a little but at least it partially washed the embarrassment away. Also, why was she so damn pleased about it too?

Ruby, who didn't have any such countermeasures for the embarrassment, just fidgeted on her seat, squirming in the uncomfortable silence.

"W-Well…" Finally Yang managed to find her voice again, but she _knew_ the red on her face was _not_ from alcohol. She wasn't a drinker, but she had gotten drunk before and she knew how it felt. And this was _definitely_ different. "T-Then why did y-you pursue Weiss s-so much?"

Jaune cringed and looked away, trying to avoid answering the question, but when he looked back at them she was met with two blushing but very interested girls. He sighed and buried his face into his hands. "I have seven sisters, girls. Seven. Do you really think they would've allowed me into the world without giving me at least the basics of courting or flirting?" he groaned miserably. "To quote my sister Amor: `The quickest way to find out if a girl likes you without directly asking her is to make her jealous. If you pursue someone else under their eyes and they show irritation or something similar, then there's a good chance they are into you.` Amor's advice has always been the best so I applied that first."

"B-But why Weiss?" stuttered Ruby. Jaune had to bite his lip _hard_ to avoid cooing and squealing at how _adorable_ she was. He managed only because he had seven sisters.

"Weiss has always been harsh and cold to me, and pretty cold to everyone else, so she deserved being pestered like that," he shrugged and scowled at the same time. "And of course I chose Weiss because I was sure she wouldn't have been interested. I'd like not to leave broken hearts behind me. Besides, I already said I don't like people just for their bodies, so there's very little I could like of Weiss…"

"Hey, she's not that bad!" protested Yang.

"She as a whole mightn't," he agreed. "But the side she shows to me and everyone else? That's really dislikeable."

Neither could really deny that statement.

Silence fell over them for a second time as the bartender refilled all their shot glasses. Yang and Ruby, who hadn't ordered them, just shrugged and accepted them while Jaune sipped his own. Aura was helping, but a bit of colour was already tinting his cheeks.

"So…" began Yang. "You like us? Both of us?"

Taken aback, Jaune had to choose between spitting his whiskey out on Ruby or choke on it. Being the gentleman he was he of course chose to choke on it, but as he continued to cough with no signs of stopping Yang and Ruby grew worried. The problem was solved after Yang gave him a hearty `pat` on the back and he basically spat out the whiskey.

The awkward silence stretched for a while before Jaune finally sighed and caved in. "Yes, yes I do," he confirmed. "Are you gonna ditch me now?" he asked, looking down at his glass.

"You go first."

"Nope, you do."

"Yang, should I telling about that time you…"

"Should _I_ start telling him about that time you…"

"Yang! You promised never to…"

"Come on, Ruby…"

"Puppy eyes don't work when _you_ are the one using them!"

"Pwlease?"

"Argh! Fine! You win!"

Jaune lifted his head, looking at the _quite_ strangely argument that had just take place before him, but instead he found himself staring into Ruby's _very close_ eyes. He let out a yelp and tried to lean back, but the chair and something that felt awfully like Yang's arms kept him from moving.

A second later, Ruby's mouth was on his.

It went without saying that both of them were utterly inexperienced in the holy art of kissing, but in their opinion they managed it alright. To Jaune, Ruby tasted like roses and strawberries, with a hint of chocolate for her previous drink. To Ruby, Jaune tasted like the wind on a rainy day, water and air mixed together in a flavour that made her head swim. To Yang, they were more cute than romantic, but she kept her thoughts for herself, especially when they tried to bring it further by using their tongues. To their credit, they managed it, but Yang could clearly see their embarrassed blushes even as their hands gripped each other's clothes.

For both the kissers, it was pretty much Heaven.

Finally, the two separated for air, panting as they pressed their foreheads together. They both adopted a coy smile as they stared at each other, their hearts beating in unison.

"My turn."

Without warning, Ruby leaned back and allowed Yang to pull his head up to face her. He briefly saw her upside-down smirk before another set of lips found his. This time Jaune could swear he tasted fire for the first time in his life, a burning yet soothing heat in her mouth and tongue that just calmed and excited him at the same time. She must've passed some of her confidence onto him with that kiss, because when she pulled back, he pulled her back in for another, something he would've probably never worked up the courage to do.

When they broke off, it was his turn to grin widely. "Hey girls, mind if I ask your opinion on something?"

"Uh?" was all the answer he got, both of them slightly puzzled at the question.

"You know, since our job is gonna be very dangerous, some think that Huntsmen and Huntresses in training should _enjoy life_ much sooner than civilians to avoid dying on the job before we can live it fully." He punctuated what he meant by reaching out and groping both girls' rears, much to their embarrassment and, to be honest, delight. "What's your opinion regarding that?"

Yang smirked.

/-/

"Can we have a word, Weiss?"

Weiss was ticked. More than ticked. She was supremely pissed off. She had been informed by Blake that Jaune had _definitely_ won the bet, even if she didn't know the details, and she knew that the Faunus wouldn't have lied about such an important matter. She wasn't just angry that she would have to go through a date with him, but also that he had obviously tricked some girl to then break her heart to be with Weiss. So it was understandable she was angry. She twirled on her heel to launch the most furious words she could must at the blond, but she choked on her words when she saw him.

For one, his hair and clothes were pretty much a mess. What had once been a beautiful white-themed outfit was now _torn_ in multiple places and even a bit burned. Rose petals matched the white perfectly, she had to admit it, but the _thirteen_ very visible hickeys he had on his neck did _not_ match his pale complexion. His smile was also a bit _too_ bright, too glowing. Added to that, a Yang and a Ruby in similar conditions were on him.

Yes, on him, not with him.

Yang was hanging on his back, a smile on her face as she rested her chin on his shoulder, her legs tightly wrapped around his waist and her arms loosely around his neck. Ruby was held in bridal style carry by the male blond, her face of a lovely shade of red but a bright smile managing to break through her blush. Both of them were dishevelled and sported several hickeys on their necks. The three of them were getting lots of attention from the other students, and that was exactly what Jaune wanted. She could clearly see Pyrrha amongst the students, gaping at the scene before her.

"W-What!?" she exclaimed, her pale complexion burning up.

"I just wanted to say thanks," grinned Jaune. "Without you and your stubborn low opinion of me, I would've never been able to do this. So thanks for having been played by the boy Ozpin put in the position of team _leader and strategist_. It gave me the chance to confess to the two lovely girls. Jackpot." Both girls swatted him for that final comment, one on his chest and the other on the back of his head, but his grin remained.

"W-What?" repeated Weiss, this time way more weakly.

"You know, you're not even worth the whole explanation. Let's just say I was trying to get these two jealous by asking you out," continued Jaune. "Anyway, I came to tell you that our bet is over, and I don't care. I don't want to date you, not now nor in a thousand years. If you excuse me, I have to get these two to their dorm."

"H-How did you get with t-them?!" she choked out.

"Well, you know, the usual method. I asked and they said yes," he replied as he passed by her and walked on. Then he stopped, a grin spreading on his face. "Oh, if you mean that other thing we did… don't worry Weiss, we used protection, you won't have any little kids running around anytime soon."

He walked away.

Weiss was frozen in place for the shock.

Pyrrha's body hit the ground hard.

Yang and Ruby each kissed one of Jaune's cheeks.

 ** _This story's idea came to me when reading LordHellPhoenix's oneshot "A Knight's Heart". If you haven't read it yet, check it out and remember to leave a review. He's an incredible author. Actually, this idea came when reading the reviews for that story. A user commented how it was good to finally see a JaunexHarem without Pyrrha being in the harem. So I decided to write this oneshot._**

 ** _I think the ship of Jaune x Ruby x Yang is called RoseGold. Also called Qrow and Tai Are Totally Gonna Murder Jaune, and also called Sisters Jackpot if you want to be rude. I call it RoseGold._**

 ** _Also, this was my first time writing a harem, so please do comment on how I managed it. It's important because I need to master that style. I might even write other oneshots just for that. So please leave a review and tell me how did I do._**

 ** _Also Pyrrha's fainting theme is taken from A Knight's Heart ending._**

 ** _Also I'm using an awful lot of "also", but let's not dwell on it. I hope you liked this._**

 ** _You might be asking yourselves why did I chose to write Jaune like that. Well, I chose coding and free climbing because I like coding and free climbing myself. I could've said he also wrote fanfictions but that would've been a bit much. I also share Jaune's sexual orientation and view of the world. No, I have never had more than a girlfriend/boyfriend. Heck, I never even had one, so don't start complaining. I'm just open to the chances._**

 ** _As for the polyamour: if you think about it, it's true. You find love, for some reasons you lose love, you find it again. So you could've found love twice over, hadn't you lost love. So it's not wrong to love multiple people. As I said (somewhere) already, my fencing instructor was dating five girls at once when I met him, and they all knew about it. So it's not all that strange._**

 ** _And regarding Jaune's treatment, it's sadly something true. People don't like the different, and if they hated Faunus in Remnant then they would hate non-hetero people. I am bisex and I had to literally fight for that. I won but that's because I'm strong. What if I hadn't been?_**

 ** _And finally, think about it. Jaune's been made team leader in a group where they had Pyrrha and Ren, and it hasn't been for his combat skills. It's obvious he has mental skills instead of physical ones. And he has 7 sisters. I have 1, and she gave me advice not just on flirting, but even on how to please a girl during sex. Never used it, but she did give it. So it's a bit unlikely for Jaune to be a terrible flirter with 7 sisters plus his parents._**

 ** _Leave a review or a PM if you want to talk about anything like this, by the way._**

 ** _Anyway, I'm out now. Off to have lunch._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


End file.
